Cooking is all about memories.

Eleanor, my Scotch-Irish mother in law, did not know how to cook and was grateful for any advice her Italian mother in law was willing to give. Eleanor’s mother in law taught her how to make a tomato sauce for pasta; the exact one I made yesterday.

Twenty-eight years ago, my future husband asked me to learn how to make his mother’s spaghetti sauce. Eager to please, I spent an afternoon with Eleanor diligently writing down everything she did in order to recreate this delicious tasting sauce. It is amazing to me how making one recipe can help me conjure wonderful memories of Eleanor even though she is long gone. I imagine her learning the recipe from her mother in law and I easily recall all of the stories I know about those two women.

Cooking has a way of implanting warm wonderful memories into your mind. I am sure if you think for a moment you can find a memory of cooking or sharing a special food with someone you love. As America’s Cooking Cheerleader™, I want you to cook to improve your health and to save money, but I also want you to cook to create quality time to spend with your family. Whether it is a special pasta sauce, a favorite batch of cookies or a comforting dish of macaroni and cheese, take out some recipes that your mom, grandmother, or great grandmother made and learn to cook them with your children. If you don’t have an old one to carry on then find a new one and start fresh.

Years from now when your children make that dish for their children, a warm comforting smile will spread across their faces as they think of the time spent with you cooking, sharing and eating.

Cooking is easier than you think and you and your family are worth the time and effort it takes.

Simple cooking idea: Store ground or whole coffee in a glass jar in the freezer; it will stay fresher longer. In plastic, it will absorb orders.

Copyright ©2010 by Gigi Centaro. All Rights Reserved.